I'm not sure this even qualifies to be an ice cream since it lacks dairy as a main ingredient. This is something else to do with the watermelon that is ultra-low in calories and high in awesome. I could easily polish off a watermelon by myself. Watermelon granita is how I enjoyed it last year. This summer, I think I can start to experiment a little more.
Makes: 1 quart
4 c seedless watermelon, cubed
1 can full-fat coconut milk (at least 70%), shaken, not stirred
1/4 c raw honey
juice of 1 lemon
Blend everything together in a food processor. Pour into a 9" x 13" baking dish. Place in freezer until set. Scrape everything out and place frozen bits into the food processor. Purée until smooth. Scoop into a freezer-safe container and chill until set, about 3-4 hours.
Showing posts with label coconut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coconut. Show all posts
Faux "Cheddar" Cheese aka Coconut Cheese
One of the most dangerous things to have in the pantry is all the ingredients for an experiment. Cost-wise, it isn't any cheaper than buying a gallon of milk on sale; but it does make a lot more of that cheesy substance. The coagulation is achieved by using agar agar, a vegetarian gelatin derived from seaweed; and also tapioca starch, which helps with the thickening. Before I added turmeric powder as a colorant, it tasted a tad on the salty side and had the consistency of a molten cheese sauce.
Also, the agar agar that I bought from Fubonn came in a two-pack of moulded agar agar bars. I used one and ground it into flakes using a mini food prep.
Since coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, as the coconut cheese cools, it will firm up. If I stick it into the refrigerator overnight, I might just be able to slice or grate it like a normal block of cheese.
Ingredients
2 cans (800ml) coconut cream (70% or more coconut milk)
3 tbsp agar flakes
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
4 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt (more than this is too much)
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional, for color) doesn't help the taste
Directions
1. In a large pot, bring coconut milk to a boil. Add vinegar, agar flakes, and salt. Boil gently for 15 minutes until the agar dissolves completely.
2. Whisk in the remainder of the ingredients, one at a time, until everything is well combined. I put in the starch all at once and it clumped up immediately. Maybe next time I should just sprinkle and whisk it in. Cook for another 8-10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and pour into either a greased glass bowl or a parchment paper-lined loaf pan.
4. Let cool for a few hours. It will set at room temperature. If you would like it to be firmer, for grating or slicing, put it into the fridge overnight.
Recipe ratio from All the Cooks.
[update] 2015-01-29: Well, 2 tsp of sea salt was too much. This batch made 1 lb 7 oz of faux cheese. It is so salty, I'm thinking of reheating it with some potatoes. Refrigeration did not help the consistency. It's like cutting through soft tofu. Definitely cannot "shred" it with a grater. Spreads easily.
 |
| Coconut Cheese Ingredients |
Also, the agar agar that I bought from Fubonn came in a two-pack of moulded agar agar bars. I used one and ground it into flakes using a mini food prep.
 |
| Coconut cheese in a parchment lined loaf pan, looks ominous... |
Ingredients
2 cans (800ml) coconut cream (70% or more coconut milk)
3 tbsp agar flakes
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
4 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt (more than this is too much)
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes
Directions
1. In a large pot, bring coconut milk to a boil. Add vinegar, agar flakes, and salt. Boil gently for 15 minutes until the agar dissolves completely.
2. Whisk in the remainder of the ingredients, one at a time, until everything is well combined. I put in the starch all at once and it clumped up immediately. Maybe next time I should just sprinkle and whisk it in. Cook for another 8-10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and pour into either a greased glass bowl or a parchment paper-lined loaf pan.
4. Let cool for a few hours. It will set at room temperature. If you would like it to be firmer, for grating or slicing, put it into the fridge overnight.
Recipe ratio from All the Cooks.
[update] 2015-01-29: Well, 2 tsp of sea salt was too much. This batch made 1 lb 7 oz of faux cheese. It is so salty, I'm thinking of reheating it with some potatoes. Refrigeration did not help the consistency. It's like cutting through soft tofu. Definitely cannot "shred" it with a grater. Spreads easily.
Coconut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
This is a freeform cookie experiment. I didn't really start with a cookie base; if I did, it started this way.. Two sticks of butter plus one cup of brown sugar with two room temperature eggs. I wasn't aiming to make a sweet cookie. Hot out of the oven, these cookies disintegrate upon eating. While they look nice out in the tray, they are hard to remove without a spoon or flat spatula. I baked a dozen on a rimmed cookie sheet and another dozen in a muffin tin. It looks like, the muffin tin is the way to go for these cookies. They spread a little, but the muffin tin helps to keep the rounded shape. I think the amount of brown sugar is plenty for the sweetness. The more I play with the cookie crumbs on a plate, the more I think this would make an excellent streusel topping for some other dessert.
Makes 3 dozen.
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp raw chia seeds (optional)
2 c old fashioned oatmeal, coarsely ground
1 c golden raisins
1/2 c sweetened (or unsweetened) grated coconut (optional)
1/2 c cake flour
1/4 c coconut flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of sea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
1. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together, add eggs, then mix everything together in a large bowl.
2. Roll a tablespoon of cookie dough into a ball and place each ball into the cavity of a muffin tin.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
Let cook on a rack.
Makes 3 dozen.
 |
| Coconut raisin cookies. Looks normal? |
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp raw chia seeds (optional)
2 c old fashioned oatmeal, coarsely ground
1 c golden raisins
1/2 c sweetened (or unsweetened) grated coconut (optional)
1/2 c cake flour
1/4 c coconut flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of sea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
1. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together, add eggs, then mix everything together in a large bowl.
2. Roll a tablespoon of cookie dough into a ball and place each ball into the cavity of a muffin tin.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
Let cook on a rack.
Kitchen Notes: Hacking the Coconut
The coconut can be a very formidable opponent in the kitchen. And, granted it has taken me much longer than all the YouTube videos combined that I've watched on how to open a brown coconut. I swear, I did whack it with a hammer and to no avail. Finally, tonight It opened with minimal effort.
There's a video that shows how to open a coconut in 30 seconds. Except the prep time is 12 hours! Needless to say, this was my first attempt. I put the coconut in the freezer for 12 hours, took it out, whacked it with the hammer and nothing happened.
Back into the fridge it went for thawing.
Then, I took a philips screwdriver and a hammer and pierced the coconut's eyes. Draining the coconut of its water yielded almost a cup of coconut water. I hear it has a lot of potassium and electrolytes.
After that, I used the Alton Brown method and preheated the oven to 375 degrees F, then baked the coconut for 15 minutes. The coconut isn't that hot out of the oven, but you'll still want to wear an oven mitt because of the chaff of the outer husk. Give the coconut a few good whacks with the hammer and the shell will start to crack and come off. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the stubborn inner skin.
What you should have left is a whole coconut, minus the outer hard shell. At least I didn't have to pry the meat out of the shell with a paring knife and scrape off the inner brown skin.
There's a video that shows how to open a coconut in 30 seconds. Except the prep time is 12 hours! Needless to say, this was my first attempt. I put the coconut in the freezer for 12 hours, took it out, whacked it with the hammer and nothing happened.
Back into the fridge it went for thawing.
Then, I took a philips screwdriver and a hammer and pierced the coconut's eyes. Draining the coconut of its water yielded almost a cup of coconut water. I hear it has a lot of potassium and electrolytes.
After that, I used the Alton Brown method and preheated the oven to 375 degrees F, then baked the coconut for 15 minutes. The coconut isn't that hot out of the oven, but you'll still want to wear an oven mitt because of the chaff of the outer husk. Give the coconut a few good whacks with the hammer and the shell will start to crack and come off. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the stubborn inner skin.
What you should have left is a whole coconut, minus the outer hard shell. At least I didn't have to pry the meat out of the shell with a paring knife and scrape off the inner brown skin.
 |
| A peeled coconut, ready for use |
Coconut Sorbet
This is a Cuisinart recipe and frankly, it doesn't have that much coconut flavor to it. Maybe I should have used coconut cream instead of coconut milk. It tastes like sweetened vanilla water that has been colored white. Even though the coconut milk was unsweetened, there is still too much sugar in the recipe. Next batch should cut the sugar down to 3/4 c.
Ingredients
1.5 c water
1 1/3 c granulated sugar
1 whole vanilla bean, halved then seeds scraped
pinch of salt
2 cans (13.5 oz each) unsweetened coconut milk
Directions
1. Combine water, sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to just a boil then remove from heat. Let the ingredients steep for an hour and strain into a separate bowl. Add coconut milk. Stir. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Process in Cuisinart (or similar) ice cream maker. Transfer sorbet to a container and freeze for at least two hours until firm.
Coconut Mochi Cake
This is not the dessert for anyone trying to cut back on sugar. Even though I reduced the sugar, it still tastes rather sweet. It's the perfect rainy day treat to nibble on with a hot cup of tea.
Ingredients
1 lb sweet rice flour (1 box of Mochiko)
1 3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 (14 oz) cans unsweetened light coconut milk
5 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a large bowl, whisk together rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.
4. Pour batter into an ungreased 13" x 9" baking dish.
5. Bake for 1.5 hours. Let cool for 1.5 hours before cutting into squares and serving.
Source: Gourmet Magazine, May 2005
Ingredients
1 lb sweet rice flour (1 box of Mochiko)
1 3/4 c. organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 (14 oz) cans unsweetened light coconut milk
5 large eggs
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a large bowl, whisk together rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.
4. Pour batter into an ungreased 13" x 9" baking dish.
5. Bake for 1.5 hours. Let cool for 1.5 hours before cutting into squares and serving.
Source: Gourmet Magazine, May 2005
Nut and Seed Bread (no sugar, no flour)
This comes out looking and tasting like a very dense, protein-rich bread. It is held together by the emulsion power of the ground flax seeds and eggs in the dough. With a food processor and seed grinder, this "bread" is really easy to prepare. You don't even need a special seed grinder to mill the flax into a flour, just use an electric coffee bean grinder. A decent one will run you about $15.
This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.
Ingredients
1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.
1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.
This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.
Ingredients
1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.
1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Coconut Brown Rice
Saw this at the demo booth at Trader Joe's the other day, except steamed long grain jasmine rice was used. The rice, when made this way, would complement a curry dish pretty well.
Ingredients
1 c. short grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Directions
In a heatproof bowl, combine coconut milk and brown rice. Stir to distribute liquid and grains of rice. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for an hour at 375 degrees F. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork. If the rice looks a little runny, like there is still too much liquid, simply let the rice sit in the oven to cool. The rice will eventually absorb the excess liquid.
Ingredients
1 c. short grain brown rice, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Directions
In a heatproof bowl, combine coconut milk and brown rice. Stir to distribute liquid and grains of rice. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for an hour at 375 degrees F. When the rice is done, fluff with a fork. If the rice looks a little runny, like there is still too much liquid, simply let the rice sit in the oven to cool. The rice will eventually absorb the excess liquid.
Almost Thai Coconut Chicken
What makes this dish "Thai" and not just a coconut chicken dish is its flavorings. And while I had a poorly planned meal ahead of me with quite a few unique flavors missing from the pantry, I still managed to hack together a recipe that works. I suppose that if I ate out more at authentic Thai restaurants I'd know what I was missing. Since I hardly eat out these days, a basic understanding of how flavors work together to become palatable will just have to do.
I don't see what the big deal is with people's aversion to animal fats. If you already chow down on bacon or whole eggs, you should have no problem adding the chicken skin or its accompanying fat to this recipe.
Ingredients
1 lb raw chicken (with skin), cut into small pieces
One 14 oz can of coconut milk
2 carrots, chopped
2 small white potatoes, diced
1/3 c. green onions, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing red rice wine
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp minced basil leaves
Directions
1. Cut the chicken into small bite-sized pieces and marinate with red rice wine until ready to cook.
2. Pour coconut milk into a 2-cup measuring cup and stir in curry powder.
3. Heat a stainless steel skillet on medium heat before adding oil for frying. When the oil is hot, add carrots, half the green onions, and the potatoes. Fry until carrots start to sweat and potatoes start to brown. Add the marinated chicken and cook until nearly all the pink is gone from the chicken meat.
4. Add curry-coconut milk to the chicken. Stir until combined. Wait until mixture comes back up to a boil and add fish sauce, basil, garlic, and the remaining green onions. After five minutes or so the flavors should have cooked together enough so that one aroma doesn't overpower the others, as in, the pungent fish sauce is less pronounced.
5. Turn off heat and serve over hot steamed rice, noodles, or eat as is.
I don't see what the big deal is with people's aversion to animal fats. If you already chow down on bacon or whole eggs, you should have no problem adding the chicken skin or its accompanying fat to this recipe.
| Missing | Substitution |
| Jasmine rice | Fried short grain brown rice |
| Galangal root | Gingerroot |
| Lemongrass | Juice from half a lemon |
| Purple basil leaves | Two Dorot minced basil cubes |
Ingredients
1 lb raw chicken (with skin), cut into small pieces
One 14 oz can of coconut milk
2 carrots, chopped
2 small white potatoes, diced
1/3 c. green onions, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing red rice wine
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tsp minced basil leaves
Directions
1. Cut the chicken into small bite-sized pieces and marinate with red rice wine until ready to cook.
2. Pour coconut milk into a 2-cup measuring cup and stir in curry powder.
3. Heat a stainless steel skillet on medium heat before adding oil for frying. When the oil is hot, add carrots, half the green onions, and the potatoes. Fry until carrots start to sweat and potatoes start to brown. Add the marinated chicken and cook until nearly all the pink is gone from the chicken meat.
4. Add curry-coconut milk to the chicken. Stir until combined. Wait until mixture comes back up to a boil and add fish sauce, basil, garlic, and the remaining green onions. After five minutes or so the flavors should have cooked together enough so that one aroma doesn't overpower the others, as in, the pungent fish sauce is less pronounced.
5. Turn off heat and serve over hot steamed rice, noodles, or eat as is.
Almond Pudding with Coconut
I thought I was being terribly clever by using the uneaten coconut macaroons as a crust for the bottom of this pudding. Alas, the principles of physics were working against me. I really thought that a heavy "cookie" would stay at the bottom, but alas, the broken bits of the macaroons started floating everywhere in the thickened pudding when I poured it into a glass serving bowl.
You'll note that the ingredient ratio is awfully similar to the quick and easy stovetop method for making vanilla pudding. That is because the only ingredient swapped out is the extract, using almond extract instead of vanilla extract. Maybe the recipe's title really should be Coconut Almond Pudding. Even that is a misnomer since there are no almonds in the dessert and there is, by weight, more coconut than almond extract in it.
Ingredients
2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. unbleached granuated sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp unsalted butter
6 coconut macaroons, crumbled
Directions
1. In a pot, bring milk to a near simmer over medium heat where bubbles start to form at the edges.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Gradually add dry ingredients to the milk and whisk to keep clumps from forming.
3. Cook pudding until it has thickened. It should be able to coat the back of a spoon and not drip off that quickly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and almond extract.
4. Add crumbled coconut macaroons to the bottom of a serving dish (I used a 1-qt glass serving bowl for this). Pour pudding on top. Let cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
The pudding by itself tastes like I had imagined it to taste like.. a milk-based pudding with the flavor of almond. It'll be interesting when the pudding has cooled to see what the addition of another dessert component tastes like.
You'll note that the ingredient ratio is awfully similar to the quick and easy stovetop method for making vanilla pudding. That is because the only ingredient swapped out is the extract, using almond extract instead of vanilla extract. Maybe the recipe's title really should be Coconut Almond Pudding. Even that is a misnomer since there are no almonds in the dessert and there is, by weight, more coconut than almond extract in it.
Ingredients
2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. unbleached granuated sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp unsalted butter
6 coconut macaroons, crumbled
Directions
1. In a pot, bring milk to a near simmer over medium heat where bubbles start to form at the edges.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Gradually add dry ingredients to the milk and whisk to keep clumps from forming.
3. Cook pudding until it has thickened. It should be able to coat the back of a spoon and not drip off that quickly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and almond extract.
4. Add crumbled coconut macaroons to the bottom of a serving dish (I used a 1-qt glass serving bowl for this). Pour pudding on top. Let cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
The pudding by itself tastes like I had imagined it to taste like.. a milk-based pudding with the flavor of almond. It'll be interesting when the pudding has cooled to see what the addition of another dessert component tastes like.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)